PORTAGE, MI – Tom Hamilton thoroughly enjoy his recent, three-week trip to Alaska, but part of him had to know how things were going back home.

Specifically, he wanted state-tournament updates on the local high school softball scene.

"It took five days to (drive) up there, then we spent a couple of weeks there," he said about visiting his son in Alaska. "We drove (his son's car) up and flew home. The drive was gorgeous, but I wouldn't want to drive there and back."

Hamilton is back in the Kalamazoo area. And now he's back on the high school softball scene – all the way back.

"We're very excited. Tom's background speaks for itself as far as his success as a coach," Portage Central athletic director Jim Murray said. "More importantly, all of our girls and all of our families are familiar with Tom. He's been around the families. Even when he stopped coaching, he was around and helped Bernie from time to time. He's a familiar face and it will be a real smooth transition."

In three seasons, Christopher guided the Mustangs to an 88-17-2 record with three Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference divisional titles and a No. 1 Division 1 statewide record for a large chunk of the past two seasons.

Portage Central did not advance past the district finals during Christopher's stint despite wildly successful regular seasons. The Mustangs dominated the regular-season series against Mattawan during that time, but it was the Wildcats who advanced to each of the last three Division 1 state-title games and won two championships.

"Bernie and I are good friends. I feel bad for Bernie, but it just got to the point where he wasn't enjoying life; he was just having a hard time with some things there," Hamilton said. "He gave me the opportunity to be around as much as I wanted or as much as I could. Not (being a head coach), it gave me the opportunity to go to Alaska, which I wouldn't give up for the world.

"Bernie's done a great job. I'm taking over a program that's well-established. It's just a matter of keeping it going. It's not a building process – it's ready to go. I have such respect for Bernie. I'm taking over a program where everything is in the right place."

Hamilton is well-familiar with winning, especially in the postseason. In nine years at Portage Northern, he won four state championships – three straight in Division 1 from 2000 to 2002, and one in Class A in 1997. The Huskies finished Division 1 state runner-up in 1998 and 2004 under Hamilton, and again in 2005 when he assisted his daughter, Kate.

At Portage Central, Hamilton served as Dana Grosser's assistant coach for two seasons and took over as the Mustangs' head coach in 2010 before he resigned because of work-related reasons. In 2010, Portage Central had a 34-6 record and won the SMAC Central Division title under Hamilton's watch.

Hamilton is currently working at the Little Chick Shoe Shop in Portage, which he formerly owned, as well as serving as an instructor at Worden's Softball Academy in Kalamazoo. His daughter, Kate Smith, is head coach at Gull Lake High School.

"I still like softball, I really do," Hamilton said. "My biggest hang-up in the past was my job situation. I like being around kids. I've worked it out where I can make enough money working a couple part-time jobs and get some time off. The biggest problem in the past was getting time off to coach without having 18 different things going on at once. Now I feel like I can give both justice and not feel rushed to do what I have to do."

Hamilton said that Brett Foerster will remain an assistant coach with the Mustangs, but no decisions have been made beyond that in terms of the staff.

"Most of these kids I know well, but I've never truly coached them from (the head-coaching) standpoint. I was not their coach in the official capacity," Hamilton said. "The older kids, I know those kids well and I know we've got great kids from that standpoint, who want to work hard. I think they realize, to make a tournament run, how hard that you've got to work. Sometimes you think you're ready. You've got to get the kids to buy in."

Hamilton said this will be his last go-around. "I'm getting too old," he quipped.

"We feel very fortunate that Tom wants to coach again," Murray said. "I think he probably had some other opportunities over the past few years at some other schools, but this was where he was last. He's a graduate of Portage Central, his heart is in Portage. When we talked to him about this opportunity, he was very excited and so were we."